By William “Skip” Deegans
Undoubtedly, one of the most interesting Greenbrier Countians was Dr. William Parks Rucker. Born in Lynchburg in 1831 to a prominent Virginia family, Rucker enrolled at the University of Virginia and transferred to Philadelphia’s Jefferson Medical College where he received a medical degree. He set up practice in Covington, Virginia. Even though he owned slaves, he was opposed to secession and supported Abraham Lincoln. He was outspoken in his beliefs and that provoked the ire of his Confederate neighbors. In 1861, a pro-Confederate mob confronted Rucker. The mob’s leader called him a “g**-d***** traitor” and attacked him with a club. Rucker responded by stabbing and killing the leader. Rucker was jailed for a few months before he was released based on the argument he acted in self-defense.
After being released from jail, Rucker fled to a Union camp in West Virginia. He returned to Alleghany County with Union troops and guided them to the Cow Pasture Bridge that they blew up to cut off railroad transportation. Rucker moved to Summersville, WV, where he was captured, taken to Salt Sulphur Springs, tried by court martial and later indicted for treason against the State of Virginia, bridge burning, and other charges. He was shuffled to ten different prisons to prevent him from being freed by the Union army and to determine where he should be tried. In 1863, Rucker escaped. In 1864, he was commissioned as a major in the 13th WV Volunteer Infantry. At the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain, Rucker was wounded in his leg that was further injured when his horse slipped (in 1899, Rucker developed gangrene and his leg was amputated). Rucker is credited with a successful plan to blow up the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad bridge over New River at what is now Radford.
War injuries prevented Rucker from practicing medicine, and he became a lawyer. He and his family moved to Lewisburg in 1870.
He was very active in West Virginia state politics and may be remembered best for defending Edward Shue in the Greenbrier Ghost case. Rucker died in 1905 and is buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery behind the Old Stone Church.
Sources: Greenbrier Independent, University of Virginia, The People of the Old Stone Cemetery: The Obituaries by Morgan Donnally Bunn.
